Full Release - IRmep

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Iraqis associated with SClRI and Badr opposed Saddam's regime and fled to Iran In ~he ea~ly 1980s,
where their organizations were established. They began returning to Iraq in droves after U.S.-led troops
invaded Iraq in March 2003, prompting Defense Secretary Donald .Rumsfeld to warn the Badr Corps not
to Interfere In Iraq. Badr leaders say they have no hostile Intentions toward U.S. forces, but their
loyalties remain much In doubt. Just last month, Iraq's national intelligence chief, Mohammed al
Shahwanl, accused the Badr Organization of killing 10 of his agents on orders from Iranian leaders. Badr,
which denied the charges, was said to have disarmed this past summer, as part of an agreement with
the new Iraqi government that would allow its members to serve in the new Iraqi Civil Defense Force~
Yet Badr's historical ties to Iran, as described in U.S. and British Intelligence reports, offer little In the
way of reassurance. While saying that SClRI and Badr have "made some attempts to emphasize
independence from Iran," a British Defence Intelligence Staff report on "Armed Groups in Iraq," dated
Nov. 21, 2003, says that the Badr Organization retains "strong links" to ,Iran's Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps." The IRGC, the report says, "has funded, trained, and armed" the militia group, whose
membership it estimated at between 18,000 and 20,000. The report says that some Badr members were
unhappy with their leader, Abul Azlz ai-Hakim, who commands both SCIRI and Badr, and had returned to
Iran. At the time, the report says, Badr was "well equipped" with "small arms, mortars and RPG s
[rocket-propelled grenades]," T-55 series tanks and a "variety of artillery and antlalr pieces." Other
intelligence reports say that an Iranian government agency--probably the IRGC--had provided Badr with
global positioning systems to better target U.S.-led forces.
Some of the most important Information on Iran has been provided by an Iranian exile group, the
Mujaheddln..e-Khalq. The MEK fled Iran after the 1979 revolution and later relocated with Saddam's
support to Iraq, where it continued to advocate the overthrow of the Iranian clerical regime. U.s~ forces
now are guarding Its 3,800 members at Camp Ashraf, the MEK's sprawling compound northeast of
Baghdad. Designated a terrorist organization by the State Department, the MEK neve.rtheless has
provided American officials with Significant intelligence on Iran's nuclear weapons programs. The MEK,
wrote one Army analyst, is "quite proficient at intelligence collection." Other analysts said that the MEK' .
also had provided valuable on-the-ground intelligence to Army Special Forces after the invaslonlof Iraq. te:
"The SF guys claim the [MEK] are a valuable intel asset," wrote an Army sergeant who had met'.
frequently with the MEK, "and are generally reliable." At the same time, an Army team wrote that It.was.l'
Important to be mindful that, given that its stated goal is to topple the government In Tehran, the MEK'stt' ~
reports "were designed to Inform as well as Influence American policy toward ••• the Iranian regime.~ ~
A red'truck. Relying on Its own agents inside Iran and other sources, the MEK has given Army personnel
detailed reports on what it says have been Iran's efforts to destabilize Iraq. In its reports, some of which
were reviewed by U.S. News, the MEK reported on the Intelligence-collection methods of Iran's MOIS,
arms shipments from Iran to Iraq, and· the involvement In these operations of the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps's so~called Qods Force, or "Jerusalem Force."
In December last year, MEK intelligence officers provided the Army with a detailed report and maps on
what it called "a widespread network for transferring and distributing arms from Iran to Iraq" through
the Ilam region in ~estern Iran. The MEK said its sworn enemy, the Badr Organization, was involved In
the network. According to the MEK's operatives, both Badr and the Iranian command staff were based in
Iran at the border town of Mehran. "In order to control and manage the intelligence and terrorist
activities in Iraq," a MEK intelligence officer wrote, "the Qods Force has recently moved part of its
command staff from Tehran to the border city of Mehran." His report also Identifed the areas In western,
northwestern, and southern Iran where Qods Force commanders operated, along with the identities of
more than a dozen commanders.
The MEK's reports contain detailed information on arms shipments. On Dec. 4, ~003, the MEK reported,
Iranian agents moved 1,OOO.rocket-propelled grenades and seven boxes of TNT from western Iran to
Iraqi resistance groups. A week later, Iran's Qods Force moved "a number of Mirage submachine guns"
into Iraq In a "truck loaded with cement bags under which the arms were hidden," according to another
report. later that month, the MEK said, an Iraqi working for Iran drove a red fruit truck..-a "cover for a
consignment of arms," including RPG s, mortars, and Kalashnlkov rifles--across the border into Iraq.
The dissident Iranian group also provided American intelligence officers with information on how
Hezbollah was aiding Iran In gathering Intelligence in I~q. Hezbollah, a bitter enemy of Israel with close
ties to Iran and Syria, collected information on American and, British troops, photographed them, then
sent the information to Qods Force commanders In Iran, according to MEK intelligence reports.
J;ile:I/C~\DQCQlvJE-l)agb~Iq-am\LOCAL~-I.\Temp\Cl06ZFQF.htm 11/16/2004